Department for Transport

Department for Transport: Chief Scientific Advisers

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many meetings he had with his Department's Chief Scientific Adviser from (a) 1 March to 31 May 2021, (b) 1 June to 31 August 2021 and (c) 1 September to 30 November 2021.

Andrew Stephenson: Between 1 June to 30 November 2021 the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser met with Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, with portfolio responsibility for research and science, (Minister Maclean and Minister Harrison) on seven occasions, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Baroness Vere of Norbiton) on two occasions, Minister of State (Minister Heaton Harris) on two occasions, Minister of State (Minister Stephenson) on one occasion and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister Courts) on one occasion.

Driving Licences: Applications

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department holds on the number of (a) new and (b) renewal applications for driving licences were delayed within the DVLA by region in each month since March 2020.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time taken is by the DVLA to issue (a) driving and (b) HGV licences.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to help tackle the backlog of cases within the DVLA.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department holds on the size of the backlog of cases by region within the DVLA as at 8 February 2022.

Trudy Harrison: The quickest and easiest way to apply for a driving licence is by using the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s online service. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their licence within a few days. However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application and the DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day. To help reduce waiting times for paper applications, the DVLA has introduced additional online services, recruited more staff, increased overtime working and has secured extra office space in Swansea and Birmingham. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here. On 8 February 2022, the total number of paper applications awaiting processing at the DVLA was 1,066,659. Information is not held by region. The DVLA normally has around 400,000 applications awaiting processing as thousands of new applications are received each day. Information is not held on the number of (a) new and (b) renewal applications for driving licences that were delayed by region in each month since March 2020. The average time taken to issue driving licences in the last three months across online and paper applications is 29 working days. However, the DVLA has focused extra resource on processing vocational driving licence applications to support the Government’s response to the driver shortage. Since November 2021, routine vocational applications have been processed within normal turnaround times of five working days. As with ordinary driving licences, applications where a medical condition(s) must be investigated can take longer.

Driving Licences: Applications

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many paper applications await processing for a driving licence for each of the last 12 months for which data is available.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time taken is to process a paper application for a driving licence, for each of the last 12 months for which data is available.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many full-time equivalent staff were working for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in each of the last ten years for which data is available.

Trudy Harrison: The number of paper driving licence applications awaiting processing on a specific date in each of the last 12 months is shown in the table below.DateTotal1 Mar 2021113,6321 Apr 2021171,9931 May 2021306,6901 Jun 2021448,8741 Jul 2021608,9341 Aug 2021628,3451 Sept 2021675,7751 Oct 2021637,4111 Nov 2021549,7581 Dec 2021446,8884 Jan 2022392,8211 Feb 2022384,841 The average number of days taken to process a paper application for a driving licence in each of the last 12 months is shown in the table below.DateAverage working daysFeb 20215.2March 20218.6April 202112.9May 202118.1June 202123.9July 202132.1August 202134.8Sept 202133.3Oct 202133.9Nov 202130Dec 202128.9Jan 202228 The number of full-time equivalent staff working for the DVLA in each of the last ten years is shown in the table below. DateFull-Time Equivalent31 March 20135,612.5831 March 20144,985.1031 March 20154,918.9431 March 20165,429.9431 March 20175,351.1631 March 20185,195.5131 March 20195,336.0431 March 20205,499.1731 March 20215,467.8731 January 20225,461.25 To help reduce waiting times for paper applications, the DVLA has introduced additional online services, recruited more staff, increased overtime working and has secured extra office space in Swansea and Birmingham. The DVLA has reconfigured its accommodation to safely maximise the number of staff on site and is working hard to process paper applications as quickly as possible. Together with the ending of industrial action, these measures are having a positive impact.

Railways: Bradford

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will review the decision not to go ahead with the Bradford stop of Northern Powerhouse Rail, in response to the commitments in the Levelling Up White Paper to raise local transport closer to London standards.

Andrew Stephenson: The IRP has committed £500 million to deliver electrification and upgrades of the line between Bradford and Leeds, bringing journey times as low as 12 minutes - a saving of almost half compared to today. In addition, the IRP has designated £100 million to assess how best to route high-speed trains from the East Midlands to West Yorkshire which includes starting development work on a West Yorkshire Mass Transit system. These schemes will provide better connections for residents and businesses of Bradford, not just to Leeds but to the rest of the country including London.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Coal: Mining

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the letter from the Minister of State for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change to the Welsh Minister for Climate Change, dated 7 January 2022, what steps he is taking to work with the Welsh Government in order to quickly clarify responsibilities for (a) approving and (b) cancelling the licence for the Aberpergwm coal mine.

Greg Hands: The Coal Authority approved the application for the expansion of the Aberpergwm mine on 25 January 2022. The approved licence is with the operator for final checks and confirmation. If appropriate confirmation is received the licence will then be granted and issued. This is the final step in allowing expansion of the existing mine. There are no plans to cancel the licence for the existing Aberpergwm coal mine.

Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) extending access for 12 to 17 year olds to a second dose of the covid-19 vaccine and (b) making it possible for 12 to 17 year olds to be able to prove that they have had the virus on the covid-19 travel passport to enable those people to travel to countries that require proof of double vaccination.

Maggie Throup: On 15 November 2021, the Government accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to offer a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination to all 16 and 17-year-olds. On 29 November 2021, the Government accepted further advice from the JCVI to offer all 12-17-year-olds a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with the second dose being offered at a minimum of 12 weeks from their first dose, or 12 weeks after testing positive for COVID-19 infection.The NHS COVID Pass has been available for people aged 16 or over to demonstrate their COVID-19 status for travel purposes since 17 May 2021. Since 13 December 2021, children in England aged 12-15-years-old who have had a full course of COVID-19 vaccination are eligible for an NHS COVID Pass letter for travel with an internationally recognised 2D barcode, following the decision to offer two doses of vaccine to all 12-15-year-olds in the United Kingdom. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nhs-covid-pass-for-12-15-year-olds-for-international-travelSince 3 February 2021, children in England have been able to prove their vaccination or proof of prior infection via a digital NHS COVID Pass for outbound travel. The COVID Pass is available via the NHS.UK website for those aged 12 and over and via the NHS App for those aged 13 and over. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/get-digital-covid-pass/

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, across the UK, how many unused covid-19 vaccines have reached their expiry date in each of the last nine months.

Maggie Throup: Information on vaccine wastage prior to it entering the NHS England and NHS Improvement supply chain is not held in the format requested. Information on vaccine wastage within the NHS England and NHS Improvement supply chain is not held centrally. NHS England and NHS Improvement’s review of site deliveries, vaccination events, and site stocktakes would suggest that the number of vaccines deemed unusable at that point are within the bounds of planned expected waste.Robust mitigations have been put in place throughout the vaccination programme to reduce wastage. Stock levels have been closely monitored at a regional, system and site level with deliveries adjusted accordingly. This includes keeping stock back in the supply chain and encouraging sites to reallocate stock at a local level, rather than draw from central stores. Vaccine deliveries have been carefully managed in line with site capacity, population density and available supply, to ensure that any vaccine being delivered would be used within as short a timeframe as possible.Furthermore, following recent discussions with Pfizer and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, on 17 January 2022 NHS England and NHS Improvement wrote to healthcare providers setting out that certain unpunctured and undamaged Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines have had their post thaw shelf-life extended from 31 days to 45 days. This proactive step will help to further mitigate the risk of vaccine wastage following the rapid scaling-up of the booster programme over Christmas. More information can be found at the following link:www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/publication/extending-the-post-thaw-expiry-date-of-specific-batches-of-comirnaty-30-microgram-dose-for-adults-and-adolescents/

Mental Health Services: Expenditure

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the average spending, per head, on mental health services for people (a) in York and (b) nationally in the last 12 months.

Gillian Keegan: We have made no specific estimate.NHS England and NHS Improvement reports clinical commissioning groups’ (CCG) spend on mental health services quarterly and annually through the NHS Mental Health Dashboard, which is available at the following link:www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-mental-health-dashboard/.The total planned spend for the Vale of York CGC’s on mental health services in 2021/22 is £79.3 million. This represents 16.9 per cent of the CCG’s overall allocation.The total planned spend for all CCGs in England on mental health services in 2021/22 is £12.55 billion. This represents 14.8 per cent of CCGs’ overall allocation.

Lung Diseases: Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the diagnosis and treatment of lung disease.

Gillian Keegan: The Government funding of £2.3 billion at the Spending Review will help the National Health Service increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres to 160 by 2024-25. This will increase diagnostic capacity and provide access to physiological and imaging tests that will improve diagnosis of lung disease.Targeted Lung Health Checks are running across the country to diagnose cancer and help pick up respiratory conditions including chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseNHS England and NHS Improvement are working with the British Lung foundation, a member of the Taskforce for Lung Health which aims to prevent more people from developing lung disease and to transform the care of people living with lung disease. Early diagnosis of lung disease means people will get treatment earlier, improving health outcomes.

Mental Health Services: Sleeping Rough

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many areas are funded through the £30 million programme for specialist mental health services for people sleeping rough as of 8 February 2022; what those areas are; and how many areas in total will be funded through that programme by 2023-24.

Gillian Keegan: The NHS Long Term Plan committed to investing up to £30 million over five years to meet the health needs of people sleeping rough, to ensure that the parts of England most affected by rough sleeping will have better access to specialist homelessness National Health Service (NHS) mental health support, integrated with existing outreach services.The ambition was for new specialist mental health provision for people who sleep rough to be established in 20 high-need areas by 2023/24. The NHS have met and exceeded this ambition in 2021/22 having established 23 sites, as shown in the following table: Phase 1 (2019/20)Phase 2 (2020/21)Phase 3 (2021/22)BirminghamNewhamDorsetBrightonLiverpoolReadingHaringeySouthamptonOxfordLutonPortsmouthLeedsHullBristolBlackpoolLincolnNottinghamLambethStoke-on-Trent  NW London  Redbridge  Milton Keynes  Southend

Immunosuppression: Coronavirus

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is providing to immunocompromised people to protect them against covid-19.

Maggie Throup: Guidance for people whose immune system means they are at higher risk of serious outcomes from COVID-19, is available at the following link:www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-people-whose-immune-system-means-they-are-at-higher-risk/covid-19-guidance-for-people-whose-immune-system-means-they-are-at-higher-riskNHS England and NHS Improvement has written to general practices and hospital trusts in England to raise awareness of this new guidance.All those who are severely immunosuppressed are eligible for a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as part of their primary course, and a booster (fourth dose).From 16 December 2021, the National Health Service is offering new monoclonal antibody and antiviral treatments to people at greater risk from COVID-19. These treatments are a further measure in addition to vaccinations, which remain the best way to protect everyone. These treatments are licensed for use in non-hospitalised patients to reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death. This includes the two oral antivirals procured by the Antivirals Taskforce, as well as the monoclonal antibody treatment. There are two routes to accessing new COVID-19 treatments for non-hospitalised patients this winter. The first route allows those whose immune system means they are at higher risk from COVID-19, who test positive for the virus, to directly access COVID-19 treatments, through new COVID Medicines Delivery Unit.The second route has made oral antivirals available through a national study called PANORAMIC, run by the University of Oxford in close collaboration with General Practice hubs. It is for United Kingdom patients at risk of serious illness from COVID-19.

Surgery: Waiting Lists

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department plans to triage patients waiting for elective surgeries.

Edward Argar: The ‘Delivery Plan for Tackling the COVID-19 Backlog of Elective Care’ was published on 8 February 2022. The plan sets out a clear vision for how the National Health Service (NHS) will recover and expand elective services, including surgeries, over the next three years.The NHS will triage patients waiting for elective care, including surgeries, through three key stages. Firstly, through clinical prioritisation, ensuring the order in which patients are seen reflects clinical judgement on need. Secondly, by managing long waits: targeting support to reduce the number of people waiting a long time. Thirdly, increasing the number of cancer referrals, ensuring those patients who have not yet presented to services are included. These considerations are critical in improving overall health outcomes, underpinned by new investment and new technology.To support this, the plan refers to national and local policies on waiting list management which are currently being reviewed and the original prioritisation frameworks amended.Systems will be expected to analyse their waiting list data by relevant characteristics, including age, deprivation and ethnicity, and by specialty.Patients who have been waiting 18 months or longer will now be re-reviewed every three months, as a minimum, until they receive treatment or get discharged. This will be subject to ongoing review as numbers of patients waiting over two years reduce.Across the elective recovery programme, the NHS aims to ensure prioritisation is consistent, to deliver the best outcomes for patients on waiting lists.

Surgery: Waiting Lists

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral statement of 8 February 2022 on Elective Treatment, what incentives he plans to introduce for providers to tackle the elective backlog.

Edward Argar: The National Health Service published the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ on 8 February 2022. The Government plan to spend an additional £8 billion to support this from 2022/23 to 2024/25.Funding for elective recovery will be allocated to local areas to support elective recovery, ensuring that we maximise the impact of the additional funding. Provider elective activity plans will be funded as per the aligned payment and incentive approach, with payment linked to the actual level of activity delivered. Further details on payment mechanisms will be set out as part of the planning guidance for local systems.

Members: Correspondence

Robert Largan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the enquiry dated 10 June 2021, reference RL22925, from the hon. Member for High Peak.

Edward Argar: I replied to the hon. Member on 9 February 2022.

Queen's Hospital Romford: Standards

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken steps to tackle waiting times at Queen’s Hospital in Romford.

Edward Argar: The National Health Service has published the ‘Delivery plan for tacking the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ to set out how hospitals will tackle waiting times and eliminate waits longer than a year for elective care by March 2025. The Government has made £8 billion available to support these plans for more checks, scans, outpatient appointments, procedures, and investment in staff.The Queen’s Hospital is treating the most clinically urgent patients, using the independent sector to reduce long waits, and has resumed routine surgery and face-to-face outpatient appointments to supplement virtual consultations. It is part of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, which reduced the number of patients waiting more than a year from 2,430 in March 2021 to 959 in December with evening and weekend super-clinics, state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and streamlined ways of working.

Integrated Care Systems: Surgery

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding the Government plans to make available for integrated care systems to manage their elective waiting lists.

Edward Argar: The National Health Service (NHS) published the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ on 8 February 2022. To support this plan, the Government will make an additional £8 billion available from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to enable the NHS to carry out more checks, scans, outpatient appointments, operations and other procedures, with a significant amount invested in staff. Funding will be allocated to local areas for elective recovery, with further details on payment mechanisms set out as part of the planning guidance for local systems. Integrated Care Systems will each have plans for their population and for the resources required to recover elective and cancer services. They will work with providers to agree and deliver their plans. Regional and national teams will work together to monitor delivery of plans and provide prompt interventions to drive improvement as required.

Mental Health: Children

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of cases of (a) eating disorders, (b) depression, (c) anxiety, (d) post-traumatic stress disorder and (e) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder amongst children.

Gillian Keegan: We remain committed to the ambitions of the NHS Long Term Plan to invest at least an additional £2.3 billion a year into expanding and transforming mental health services by 2023/24. This will enable an extra 345,000 more children and young people with a range of mental health conditions including eating disorders, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder to access National Health Service (NHS) funded mental health support and expand the mental health workforce by an additional 27,000 healthcare professionals.In March 2021, we announced an additional £79 million funding in this financial year, which will allow around 22,500 more children and young people to access community health services, 2,000 more to access eating disorder services and accelerate the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges.We are also investing £15 million in local authority areas in the most deprived parts of the country to help stimulate and boost prevention and early intervention services to support those hardest hit by the pandemic, including children and young people.Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition. The symptoms of ADHD usually improve with age, but many adults who were diagnosed with the condition at a young age continue to experience problems. For children with ADHD, the condition can be managed with appropriate educational, health and care advice and support, alongside medicine if necessary. We are taking specific steps through the NHS Long Term Plan to work with local authority children’s social care, education services and expert charities to develop packages to support neurodivergent children, including children with ADHD and their families, throughout the diagnostic process.

MMR Vaccine

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle the decline in MMR vaccine uptake.

Maria Caulfield: On 1 February 2022 a new national marketing campaign was launched with the aim of increasing awareness and driving uptake of both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in children under the age of five years.In addition, NHS England and NHS Improvement are implementing an MMR campaign from March 2022 to increase coverage of the MMR vaccine in the routine childhood programme. This will include a central call and recall for children aged 1-6 years who have been identified to not be up to date for their age.

Spectacles: Pension Credit

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to promote access to support towards the cost of glasses through claiming pension credit.

Maria Caulfield: Full details of those entitled to National Health Service (NHS) sight tests and optical vouchers is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/free-nhs-eye-tests-and-optical-vouchers/The NHS Business Services Authority also promote access to support with the cost of glasses through their Help With Health Costs Facebook page and Twitter account, in addition to a dedicated helpline.NHS optical vouchers are available for certain eligible groups to help with the cost of glasses or contact lenses, this includes individuals and their partners’ who are in receipt of Pension Credit.

Tinnitus: Research

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will increase the funding for research into tinnitus.

Maria Caulfield: The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including tinnitus, it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.The NIHR’s support for tinnitus research was over £1.5 million between 2016/17 and 2021/22. This included funding for research projects and funding for NIHR managed infrastructure to support tinnitus research. Current NIHR funding includes £15 million over five years from April 2017 to support deafness and hearing loss research in NIHR’s Manchester, University College London and Nottingham Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs). The Nottingham BRC has a core research theme on tinnitus and noise sensitivity.

Liver Diseases: Health Services

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support liver disease patients as the NHS recovers from the covid-19 pandemic.

Maria Caulfield: Liver disease is a priority in the NHS Long Term Plan. £2.3 billion of capital funding has been allocated in the Spending Review 2021 for investment in diagnostic services, to support transformation of those services, with the increased capacity being used to diagnose liver disease. Regions will work with Integrated Care Systems, diagnostic networks, and primary care services to determine the location and configuration of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDC) services, based on the needs of the local population. National guidance on speciality pathways suitable for CDC sites, with liver disease as an area of focus, is being developed with support from the national clinical advisors. NHS England has prioritised the World Health Organisation (WHO) goal to eliminate Hepatitis C, a significant cause of end-stage liver disease, as a public health issue in advance of the WHO 2030 target.

Dental Services: Pension Credit

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to promote access to free dental treatment through claiming pension credit.

Maria Caulfield: Information on exemption from dental patient charges is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/free-nhs-eye-tests-and-optical-vouchers/National Health Service (NHS) dental contractors in England are contractually required to display a poster in their practice that sets out the charges associated with, and exemptions from, NHS dental treatment. This includes those receiving the Guarantee Credit element of pension credit or their partners. Practices are also provided with leaflets providing more detail on NHS dental charges and payment exemptions.The NHS Business Services Authority also promote access to support for the cost of NHS dentistry through their Help With Health Costs Facebook page and Twitter account, in addition to a dedicated helpline.Further information, including an online tool to check if a patient is exempt from NHS charges, is available at the following link:https://services.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/check-my-nhs-exemption/start

Department of Health and Social Care: Chief Scientific Advisers

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings he had with his Department's Chief Scientific Adviser from (a) 1 March to 31 May 2021, (b) 1 June to 31 August 2021 and (c) 1 September to 30 November 2021.

Maria Caulfield: The department draws from a range of scientific advice and expertise. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed. Due to the centrality of the COVID-19 pandemic to health and social care policy and research, the department’s Chief Scientific Adviser met frequently with the Secretary of State over the stated period.

IVF

Dame Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the National Institute of Clinical Excellence's guidelines on access criteria for IVF, (a) what recent assessment he has made of the availability of IVF treatment on the NHS for women up to the age of 40 across Clinical Commissioning Groups in England and (b) what steps he is taking to address the variations in availability of IVF treatment in England.

Maria Caulfield: The Department does not collect this information centrally.The Government expects local National Health Service (NHS) commissioning bodies to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, so that there is equitable access across England.We are aware that some commissioners set additional non-clinical criteria. This is outside the best clinical practice and is not fair to patients with infertility.The Department undertook an internal policy review about the variation in access to NHS fertility services, which was completed in 2021. The results of this review will inform our ambitions in the Women’s Health Strategy, which is due to be published in the Spring.

Wales Office

UK Internal Trade: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of the impact of the First Minister of Northern Ireland's resignation on trade between Wales and Northern Ireland.

Simon Hart: The Government is monitoring and assessing these critical trade routes between Wales, Northern Ireland, and the rest of the UK. Ministers meet regularly to discuss such matters.The decision by the Democratic Unionist Party to withdraw the First Minister from the Northern Ireland Executive is extremely disappointing. The Government’s priority is to see a strong functioning Northern Ireland Executive delivering a better, more prosperous, shared future for all the people of Northern Ireland.

Department for Education

Higher Education: Standards

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will take steps to help ensure that students who receive offers for university places can be assured of face-to-face lectures and seminars.

Michelle Donelan: Face-to-face teaching is a vital part of getting a high-quality student experience. With the removal of the Plan B measures, there are no COVID-19 restrictions that apply to higher education (HE) and providers should ensure that they are delivering the full programme of face-to-face teaching and learning that they were providing before the COVID-19 outbreak.In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, HE providers have delivered new and innovative approaches to teaching and learning and some providers continue to use some of these approaches alongside in-person provision. However, online learning should only be offered to enhance the student experience, not to detract from it, and it should not be used as a cost-cutting measure. The Office for Students will be monitoring to ensure this is the case, and that universities are being open about what students can expect.On 29 October I wrote to all English HE providers to make clear that we expect them to be offering a high-quality face-to-face student experience and, on 17 January, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education wrote an open letter to students about face-to-face teaching, setting out what they can do if they feel they are not getting the teaching they signed up for, details of which can be found here: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2022/01/17/face-to-face-teaching-is-a-vital-part-of-getting-a-high-quality-student-experience-education-secretary-nadhim-zahawi-writes-to-students/. In addition, I have been speaking with a number of university Vice Chancellors to ensure they are offering students the amount of in-person teaching they should expect.If students have concerns about the delivery of their teaching, or other matters, they should first raise them with their HE provider. If their concerns remain unresolved, students at HE providers in England or Wales can ask the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for HE to consider their complaint.

Children: Health

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what indicators his Department uses to measure children's wellbeing nationally.

Will Quince: The wellbeing of children and young people is a priority for this government and is central to achieving its aims. The department uses several different courses of information to support its understanding of children and young people’s wellbeing, including the annual State of the Nation: children and young people’s wellbeing report. The report brings together publicly available data, including data on wellbeing collected regularly by the Office of National Statistics.The latest State of the Nation report was published on 8 February 2022. Its findings highlight early signs that suggest children’s and young people’s wellbeing is gradually improving. The report also underlines the link between regular school attendance and positive welfare, emphasising the positive impact of face-to-face learning.The department continues to monitor the emerging evidence on the experiences of children and young people during the COVID-19 outbreak to ensure the short-term and long-term measures established by the government are informed by the most up-to-date evidence. Such evidence includes the regular surveillance reports on the impacts of the outbreak, including children and young people, conducted by Public Health England (PHE). PHE’s report on population mental health and wellbeing in England during the COVID-19 outbreak was most recently updated on 18 November 2021, and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-mental-health-and-wellbeing-surveillance-report.

Pupils: Learning Disabilities

Matt Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils in private schools have a specific learning difficulty.

Will Quince: The department does not hold data on the type of special educational need (SEN), including specific learning difficulties, of pupils attending independent schools.The number of pupils with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan attending independent schools, as of January 2021, was 21,887. The number of pupils with SEN, but with no EHC plan, attending independent schools was 80,386.

Secondary Education: Home Education

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the number of secondary schools in England who have (a) more than five children and (b) more than 10 children leaving the school roll to be home educated in each year since 2018-2019.

Mr Robin Walker: The department does not currently collect data on the number of electively home-educated children, including on where they may have been previously educated, as there is no statutory requirement for local authorities to maintain such information. Such data may be held by local authorities.Parents and schools can inform their local authority if they have concerns about a pupil who has been off-rolled, and local authorities do have the powers to investigate such cases.The government is committed to a form of local authority register for children not in school. Further detail on this is available in the children not in school consultation response, which was published on 3 February 2022 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/children-not-in-school. We hope to legislate on this measure at the next suitable opportunity.

Schools: Discipline

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has carried out an impact assessment on the use of behaviour hubs by state schools in England on children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

Will Quince: As the behaviour hubs programme has not been operational for a full year, the department is unable to comment on its impact. The effectiveness of the programme is being thoroughly evaluated. Part of the evaluation will look at the impact of the programme on specific groups, including children with special educational needs and disabilities. Early feedback from supported schools has been positive, noting the quality and inclusivity of the advice they are receiving.

Finance: Education

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will conduct a UK-wide assessment of the financial capability of young people.

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to require primary schools to provide education on financial matters.

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the provision of financial education in primary schools.

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will estimate how many UK schools are currently delivering financial education programmes.

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve the financial literacy of school children in Weston-super-Mare.

Mr Robin Walker: All schools are required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum. Education on financial matters helps to ensure that young people are prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed.The mathematics programmes of study provide young people with the knowledge and financial skills to make important financial decisions. In the primary mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on the essential arithmetic knowledge that pupils should be taught. This knowledge is vital, as a strong grasp of numeracy and numbers will underpin pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money, including, for example, using percentages. There is also some specific content about financial education, such as calculations with money.In 2014 financial literacy was made statutory within the national curriculum as part of the citizenship curriculum for 11 to 16-year-olds. The department also published a non-statutory citizenship curriculum for 5 to 11-year-olds, which is clear that, by the end of primary education, pupils should be taught how to look after their money and realise that future wants and needs may be met through saving.Primary schools are free to include additional content on financial management in their curricula, including working with external experts to ensure they develop the right teaching approach for their particular context.The Money and Pensions Service (MAPS) published financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England on 11 November 2021, during Talk Money week. The guidance is designed to support school leaders to enhance the financial education currently delivered in their schools to make it memorable and impactful. The department supported MAPS with their communications activities during Talk Money week and is looking for future appropriate opportunities to promote the guidance. The guidance is available here: https://maps.org.uk/2021/11/11/financial-education-guidance-for-primary-and-secondary-schools-in-england/.In the COVID-19 School Snapshot survey from June-September 2021, all leaders were asked if their school teaches pupils about managing money, such as how to make good decisions about spending and saving. The summary of findings showed that most did so but that it was more common amongst secondary schools (86%) than primary schools (60%). Schools with the lowest proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals were more likely than those on the highest proportion to teach pupils about managing money (70% vs. 59%).MAPS are planning to carry out a UK wide children and young people financial capability survey later this year. The Delivery Plans for each nation are being published shortly and will detail plans to increase the provision of financial education for more children and young people across the UK.The department will continue to work closely with MAPS and other stakeholders such as Her Majesty's Treasury, to consider learning from other sector initiatives and whether there is scope to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.

Finance: Education

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to educate young people on emerging financial trends, including crypto currencies and buy now, pay later schemes.

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including assessments of financial education in Ofsted inspections.

Mr Robin Walker: Education on financial matters helps to ensure that young people are prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed. Pupils receive financial education through the national curriculum for mathematics and citizenship. For secondary school-aged pupils, this includes compulsory content covering the functions and uses of money, financial products and services, and the need to understand financial risk, including any emerging financial trends. Schools have flexibility over how they design their curriculum and can tailor it to the needs of their pupils.The Money and Pensions Service (MAPS) published financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England during Talk Money Week (8-12 November 2021). The guidance includes links to quality assured resources for schools, including content and activities on cryptocurrencies and buy now, pay later schemes. It also sets out the knowledge and skills pupils need to protect their personal data, critically evaluate online content, and identify scams. The guidance is available to view here: https://maps.org.uk/2021/11/11/financial-education-guidance-for-primary-and-secondary-schools-in-england/.There are other opportunities across the national curriculum to teach pupils about cryptocurrencies. For example, the computing curriculum teaches the fundamental knowledge and skills that support pupils to make well-informed choices about technology. It covers the principles of e-safety at all key stages, with progression in the content to reflect the different and escalating risks that young people face. The computing curriculum is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study.The department will continue to work closely with the MAPS and other relevant parties such as Her Majesty’s Treasury, to support the teaching of financial education to children and young people, including novel financial products.Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework has a strong emphasis on schools providing a broad, balanced, and ambitious curriculum for all pupils, as exemplified by the national curriculum. Inspectors undertake deep dives into several specific subjects during inspection and this will include mathematics and citizenship for some schools.

Prime Minister

Prime Minister: Chief Scientific Advisers

Greg Clark: To ask the Prime Minister, how many meetings he had with his Chief Scientific Adviser from (a) 1 March to 31 May 2021, (b) 1 June to 31 August 2021 and (c) 1 September to 30 November 2021.

Boris Johnson: I draw on a range of scientific advice and expertise. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed. My Rt Hon Friend will be aware of this long-standing position from his time as a Minister (for example, as noted in Official Report, 25 February 2016, UIN 28557 and Official Report, 19 April 2012, Col. 520W.

Treasury

Retail Trade: Money

David Mundell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to track levels of cash acceptance among retailers.

John Glen: The Government recognises that the ability to transact in cash remains important to millions of people across the UK and has committed to legislating to protect access to cash. The Government does not collect information on the levels of cash acceptance among retailers. Nonetheless, it remains closely engaged with the financial regulators, including through the Treasury-chaired Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group, to monitor and assess trends relating to cash. The FCA has published research on cash acceptance by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which found that the primary motivation for accepting cash is to provide customers with choice. While it remains the individual retailer’s choice as to whether to accept or decline any form of payment, including cash or card, nearly all (98%) of surveyed businesses stated they would never turn away a customer if they needed to pay by cash.

Financial Ombudsman Service: Accountability

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what role the National Audit Office has in holding the Financial Ombudsman Service to account.

John Glen: The Comptroller and Auditor General, who leads the National Audit Office, certifies the accounts of all government departments and many other public sector bodies, including the Financial Ombudsman Service. The Financial Ombudsman Service is subject to statutory audit by the National Audit Office, and the National Audit Office also has the associated ability to launch value for money studies covering the Financial Ombudsman Service. A number of National Audit Office reports covering the work of the Financial Ombudsman Service have been presented to Parliament and are available on the National Audit Office’s website. These mechanisms ensure Parliament can consider the efficiency, effectiveness, and economy with which the Financial Ombudsman Service carries out its functions.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme: Debts Written Off

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government has any plans to write off loans made under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.

John Glen: There is no government policy to wholesale write off loans. Under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) all loans are liable to recovery action by lenders or – in the case of serious fraud or financial crime - law enforcement. Unfortunately, some loans will ultimately not be recoverable and may result in lenders claiming on the government guarantee. All guarantee claims are scrutinised closely by the British Business Bank as administrators of the Scheme before they are settled. These claims include defaults due both to credit losses, where a business took the loan in good faith but could not make repayments and a smaller proportion that were marked as suspected fraud. Lenders continue to make recovery efforts even after they claim on the guarantee and return recovered funds to the government, so some of that money may be returned to HM Government in due course.

Cryptocurrencies

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department is having with the Financial Conduct Authority to ensure that the UK benefits from the potential of the digital assets sector.

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that companies issuing their own securities on blockchain are not all considered crypto asset service providers.

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the Financial Conduct Authority's role in protecting consumers of digital assets and the effect of regulation on stimulating technological innovation.

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will have discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on the merits that digital assets can bring to UK economy.

John Glen: Certain cryptoassets, offering new ways to transact and invest, are part of a trend of rapid innovation in financial technology. However, these developments also present new challenges and risks – including risks to consumers and to financial system. HM Treasury engages regularly with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on opportunities, risks and regulatory issues posed by cryptoassets. The Government established a Cryptoassets Taskforce in 2018, consisting of HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the FCA. The Cryptoasset Taskforce is responsible for assessing developments in the cryptoasset market, and deciding what, if any, regulation is required in response. HM Treasury and UK authorities, including the FCA, have taken a series of actions to support innovation while mitigating risks to stability, market integrity, and consumers. These include launching a new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime for cryptoassets in 2020, overseen by the FCA; confirming an intention to legislate to regulate cryptoasset promotions, ensuring they are fair, clear and not misleading, the rules for which will be set by the FCA; and consulting on a proposal to ensure cryptoassets known as ‘stablecoins’ meet the same high standards expected of other payment methods. The Government will issue a response to this consultation shortly. The Government has adopted a staged and proportionate approach to cryptoassets regulation, which is sensitive to risks posed, and responsive to new developments in the market.  The Government is carefully considering what, if any, regulation might need to follow as the cryptoasset market grows and evolves in the UK. The use of tokens to facilitate securities transactions is an important development for the financial sector. The representation of traditional securities, such as equities or debt, on a distributed ledger (the ‘tokenisation’ of assets) could have substantial implications for the way assets are traded or capital is raised. A firm or sole practitioner that issues securities on the blockchain will fall within scope of the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs) if it provides the services of a cryptoasset exchange provider “by way of business”. To comply with the MLRs, cryptoasset firms must demonstrate systems, controls, policies and procedures adequate to deal with the particular risks of the cryptoasset market.

Barclays: Closures

Beth Winter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether officials in his Department have had discussions with representatives of Barclays Bank on its bank closure program.

Beth Winter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to preserve physical banking provision in the UK.

John Glen: Treasury ministers and officials engage with Barclays on a variety of issues. The Government recognises the continued importance of access to banking. However, decisions on opening and closing branches are a commercial issue for banks and building societies. The largest banks and building societies have been signed up to the Access to Banking Standard since 2017, which commits them to ensure that customers are well informed about branch closures, the bank’s reasons for closure and options for continued access to banking services.Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority also sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures that the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.Alternative options for access can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.

Access to Cash Review

Beth Winter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish his Department’s response to the Access to cash consultation.

Beth Winter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals in response to the Access to cash consultation.

John Glen: The Government recognises that cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, and remains committed to legislating to protect access to cash. From 1 July to 23 September last year, the Government held the Access to Cash Consultation on proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. The Government’s proposals intend to support the continued use of cash in people’s daily lives and help to enable local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they can access deposit facilities. The Government received responses to the consultation from a broad range of respondents, including individuals, businesses, and charities. The Government is carefully considering responses to the consultation as it develops legislation. The Government will set out next steps in due course.

Liverpool Victoria: Royal London Group

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will instruct the Financial Conduct Authority to require Liverpool Victoria to inform its owners of any benefit the (a) LV Chief Executive and (b) Board will attract from a merger; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will require the Financial Conduct Authority to advise Liverpool Victoria not to use any non-disclosure agreements during negotiations with Royal London; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will require the Financial Conduct Authority to instruct Liverpool Victoria to publish the amount spent on costs relating to its (a) proposed demutualisation and sale to Bain Capital and (b) talks with Royal London including (i) legal costs, (ii) public relations costs and (c) all other payments to external advisers for work on those deals; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings the Financial Conduct Authority has held with (a) the Board of Liverpool Victoria (LV), (b) members of LV and (c) Royal London since the collapse of LV’s demutualisation/Bain sale plans on 10 December 2021; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will instruct the Financial Conduct Authority to require Liverpool Victoria to disclose what remuneration Seamus Creedon will be paid as Chairman of Liverpool Victoria; if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will require the Financial Conduct Authority to require Liverpool Victoria (LV) to disclose whether the outgoing Board members of LV, including Chairman Alan Cook, will receive a departure payment or any other payment on departure from the Board of LV; and if he will make a statement.

John Glen: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is operationally independent from the Government. These questions have therefore been passed to the FCA who will respond directly to the Honourable Member by letter. Copies of the letters will be placed in the Library of the House. Regarding the costs relating to Liverpool Victoria’s (LV’s) proposed demutualisation and sale to Bain Capital, these will be disclosed as part of LV’s 2021 annual report. In respect of a potential merger between LV and Royal London, these parties have announced that their talks have ceased, and consequently there is nothing further for the Government to add on this matter.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

China: Russia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of China's support for Russian opposition to the expansion of NATO; and if she will make a statement.

Amanda Milling: In her meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on 10 February the Foreign Secretary stated that every nation had the right to choose its own security arrangement. Improving one nation's security did not threaten another's. She rejected zero-sum arguments and raised her concerns at the recent joint Russia-China statement that directly referred to NATO enlargement. She stressed that progress is possible through meaningful negotiations if Russia de-escalates and pursues a diplomatic pathway.

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if the forthcoming UK Government hosted Cepi replenishment conference will highlight the contributions that The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria makes to global health security and pandemic preparedness and response.

Amanda Milling: The Foreign Secretary will host the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit on 8 March 2022 to raise funds for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI)'s 5-year strategy for preventing future pandemics. This will support CEPI's work to improve pandemic preparedness, including through investing in vaccines research and development to enable the world to have vaccines within 100 days of a future pandemic threat being identified.In addition, the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit will recognise the importance of Global Health Institutions, like the Global Fund, in enabling coherent global pandemic preparedness and response. The Global Fund and CEPI have worked closely together since the pandemic's onset through mechanisms such as the ACT-Accelerator (which both organisations co-launched) and the Global Fund's C19 Response mechanisms to address inequity in access to health services, strengthen health systems in lower- and middle-income countries, and build resilience.Separately, the Global Fund will have its own replenishment later in 2022, hosted by the United States Government.

Africa: Coronavirus

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an estimate of the impact on (a) mortality and (b) serious illness rates from covid-19 across Africa over the next five years if MRNA vaccine substance manufacturing capacity in Africa is supported through technology transfer to open within the next 18 months.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an estimate of the impact on UK health security over the next five years if MRNA vaccine substance manufacturing capacity in Africa is supported through technology transfer to open within the next 18 months.

Amanda Milling: It is not possible to make long-term estimates of the impact of COVID-19 in any region, given uncertainties over the future course of the pandemic, including future variants and their impact. However, we fully recognise the importance of COVID-19 vaccination on health outcomes in Africa and on the UK health security, and that no-one is safe until everyone is safe. Increasing vaccine coverage in Africa is one of our top priorities. Our £548 million support to COVAX, donation of 12 million surplus doses to Africa, £20 million support to Africa Union's COVID-19 Response Fund demonstrate our commitment.The UK has provided technical support to develop business cases for vaccine production in South Africa, Senegal and Morocco. We are also supporting and engaging with the new 'Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing' initiative to develop a roadmap for African vaccine manufacturing. Vaccine supplies are improving in Africa, but greater challenges exist with delivery mechanisms and facilitating vaccine uptake. The UK is working with African countries to address those bottlenecks. We have seen voluntary licensing and technology transfer partnerships make real, positive impacts on vaccine delivery, and continue to be open to initiatives that have a positive impact on improving regional vaccine production and their distribution.

Sustainable Development

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his policy is on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, including ending HIV, tuberculosis and malaria as pandemics by 2030; and what financial commitments the Government is making to achieve those goals.

Amanda Milling: The UK is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals including ending the HIV, tuberculosis and malaria pandemics by 2030. The UK pledged £1.4 billion in the 6th replenishment (2020-2022) to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, making us the 2nd largest donor towards the 6th replenishment and 3rd largest donor since the Global Fund's creation. We are on track to fulfil our 6th replenishment pledge. Our health investments help countries to build stronger and more inclusive health systems to address all causes of ill health. We also invest in research and innovation to help people access new treatments and diagnostics, and support countries affected by these diseases to strengthen their health systems.

Kenya: Droughts

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support the Government has provided to Kenya to help tackle the impacts of drought in the last two years.

Vicky Ford: The UK is deeply concerned by worsening drought conditions in Kenya as well as in neighbouring countries. On 17 January, I announced a package of emergency humanitarian support budgeted at £17 million to assist nearly one million people across the East Africa region impacted by drought and other humanitarian pressures. From this package Kenya received help to deliver life-saving nutritional assistance to 26,000 children in areas worst affected by drought.Since 2007, the UK has provided over £160 million of assistance to the Kenyan Government to establish an early warning system on drought and create a social protection system that regularly reaches 100,000 poor and vulnerable households (c.600,000 people) through cash transfers. During drought, the Kenyan Government uses this system to reach an additional 275,000 households (c.1.6 million people), helping meet urgent needs like food and water. UK support makes a difference on the ground. In past two years, we have supported the programme's transition to a more sustainable, long-term model under Kenyan Government ownership and financing. UK funding for such programmes, which seek to reduce poverty and improve resilience of households in arid and semi-arid lands, will continue. The UK has also provided expertise to the Kenyan Government to establish innovative and sustainable financing mechanisms such as climate insurance to reduce the impact of recurrent droughts on the economy.

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: Finance

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to The Gobal Fund's Results Report 2021, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings in that report that AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 65 per cent in countries where The Global Fund invests and new infections have been reduced by 54 per cent since that fund was founded; and if she will significantly increase the UK’s pledge contribution for The Global Fund’s upcoming 7th Replenishment.

Amanda Milling: The Global Fund's Results Report 2021 shows the achievements of the Global Fund partnership as well as the challenges posed by COVID-19. Since its creation in 2002, the Global Fund partnership has saved 44 million lives and led to a reduction by 46% in deaths from HIV, TB and malaria in the countries where it invests. The UK is the second largest donor to the sixth replenishment (2020-2022). We look forward to reviewing the Global Fund's investment case for the 7th Replenishment. This investment case, which will set out the resources needed to achieve the first stage of the Global Fund's 2023-2028 strategy, will underpin the UK's future funding commitment.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help increase the manufacturing of covid-19 vaccines in developing countries.

Amanda Milling: The UK backs the Oxford-AstraZeneca model of voluntary licensing to expand the production of affordable vaccines. With UK Government support, a global licencing deal helped see transfer of Oxford-AstraZeneca's technology to other manufacturers to establish 20 supply chains across the world, including the Serum Institute of India. Around 2.5 billion AstraZeneca doses have been distributed at-cost to more than 170 countries. Building on the success of these partnerships to expand global vaccine is a priority for the government.We are working with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the COVAX Manufacturing Task Force, industry and other international partners to champion diversification of research and manufacturing capacity. This includes working with the new Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing to support development of its roadmap for African vaccine manufacturing. On 8 March, the UK will host the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit to raise funds to achieve CEPI's goal to develop vaccines against new health threats in 100 days and rapidly scale-up regional manufacturing for affordable global supply.

Tunisia: Administration of Justice

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to her Tunisian counterpart about the dissolution of the judicial council in Tunisia.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she is taking steps to ensure that the Government's diplomatic position is fully aligned with G7 condemnation of the Tunisian dissolution of the judicial council.

James Cleverly: The UK believes that checks and balances are needed in all political systems and an independent judiciary is a core component of a functioning, transparent democracy. The UK's Ambassador to Tunisia, along with other G7 Heads of Mission, issued a joint statement on 8 February expressing concern about the decision to dissolve Tunisia's Supreme Judicial Council. These issues were also discussed in person in a subsequent meeting with Tunisian Foreign Minister Jerandi. The full statement can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/supreme-judicial-court-in-tunisia-ambassadors-joint-statement-8-february-2022.

South Africa: Foreign Relations

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the economic ties between South Africa and the UK.

Vicky Ford: South Africa is the UK's largest trading partner in Africa with Bilateral trade in goods and services worth £11 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2021. The Economic Partnership Agreement between the UK and the Southern African Customs Union & Mozambique, which includes South Africa, provides duty-free and quota free access to the UK market for the vast majority of goods originating in most countries, and supports the expansion of those opportunities. In addition, the UK's Trade Forward Southern Africa Programme, is supporting businesses in the region to grow regional and international export trade including with the UK. More information about the UK's economic, trade and investment relationships with Southern African countries are available in the Trade and Investment Factsheets and Economic Factsheets on gov.uk

Kenya: Foreign Relations

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the economic ties between Kenya and the UK.

Vicky Ford: Mutual prosperity is one of the five pillars of the UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership. The 150 UK companies operating in Kenya employ over 250,000 Kenyans and are significant contributors to Kenya's economy.UK-Kenya trade is worth over £1 billion annually. The Economic Partnership Agreement, open to all East African Community member states, will help increase government-to-government dialogue on how to boost trade. It also helped maintain trade through the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring Kenya's exports entered the UK tariff-free following our departure from the EU.Through TradeMark East Africa, £33 million of UK investment at Mombasa port in partnership with the Kenya Ports Authority, has brought the average cargo turnaround down from 12 days to 3, improving the flow of trade with Kenya and the wider region. UK companies welcomed the digitising of Kenya's customs system which has reduced corruption opportunities by delivering transparency and efficiency.Kenya receives the third largest amount of British International Investment - £305 million to date. This is set to grow with new, honest and reliable, investment to help meet Kenya's infrastructure needs. As part of the UK-Kenya Infrastructure Partnership, UK urban infrastructure specialists KPMG and ARUP are taking forward the development of the 425 Acre Nairobi Railway city. The UK company Atkins is supporting the first phase of this project: designing a new Nairobi Railway Station.

Tigray: Armed Conflict

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Government of Ethiopia on the safety of the Tigrayan population living outside of the Tigray region.

Vicky Ford: We remain deeply concerned about reports of human rights abuses and violations in Ethiopia. I have raised our concerns about ethnically targeted arrests with Minister Redwan in Addis Ababa on 20 January. The protection of all civilians needs to be prioritised, human rights respected and those responsible for human rights abuses and violations held to account.

Ethiopia: Armed Conflict

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help enable access by independent investigators to the site of the mass grave of civilians allegedly killed by Oromia Liberation Army forces in Gidami district of Kelem Welega zone of Ethiopia.

Vicky Ford: We are concerned by reports of human rights abuses throughout the north of Ethiopia. At a special session of the Human Rights Council on 17 December 2021, we backed a resolution that created an International Commission of Experts to investigate allegations of violations in Ethiopia. We urge all parties to engage with this Commission and allow full access to witnesses and sites of concern.

Zimbabwe: Politics and Government

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the political situation in Zimbabwe following the establishment of the Citizens Coalition for Change.

Vicky Ford: The UK remains concerned by the political and human rights situation in Zimbabwe, including the lack of accountability for human rights violations.The UK has noted the formation of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and Embassy officials have met with CCC leadership. The UK will continue to engage with all parties across the political spectrum and urge the Government of Zimbabwe to live up to their own constitution, ensure the opposition and civil society are allowed to operate without harassment, and enable free and fair elections in 2023.

Tigray: Humanitarian Aid

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that UK aid is able pass into Ethiopia and the Tigray State during the current conflict.

Vicky Ford: We are deeply concerned by the worsening humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia. The humanitarian response in Tigray is now at standstill owing to the de facto blockade of the region imposed by the Government of Ethiopia since July 2021 and also due to recent military action by Tigrayan Defence Forces along the Tigray-Afar border. We are working with our international partners and humanitarian agencies so that in the event that access is granted or when there is an easing of the blockade relief can be delivered to Tigray as quickly as possible. UK funding to the crisis in the north has included support to help strengthen humanitarian logistics, to improve the security of the response and to augment civil-military coordination. The UK's assistance has helped relief agencies to deliver some aid in a highly insecure and complex operating context. In addition to Tigray the UK's support is also benefitting communities in Afar and Amhara regions directly impacted by the conflict.The conflict is causing appalling suffering to the civilian population, with over 400,000 people in Tigray now living in famine-like conditions and over 25 million in need of urgent humanitarian assistance across the country. All parties to the conflict in the north must agree a ceasefire and allow aid to reach people in need. On 20 January, I met with Prime Minister Abiy and also spoke to State Minister Redwan, stressing the need for rapid and sustained humanitarian access and to lift the blockade on aid to northern Ethiopia. I also met UN Regional Coordinator Daniel Endres to discuss the humanitarian situation. We have been clear at the United Nations Security Council that all parties to the conflict must come to the negotiating table, and uphold their duty to protect civilians, in accordance with their international legal obligations.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support the rollout of covid-19 vaccination programmes in developing countries.

Amanda Milling: The UK is committed to help bring the acute phase of the pandemic to an end and strongly supports the COVAX Facility as a key multilateral mechanism to deliver this. The UK is one of the largest donors to COVAX's Advance Market Commitment (AMC), committing £548 million, and will donate 100 million vaccine doses by mid-2022. This support has helped COVAX deliver over 1.14 billion vaccines globally to date to 144 participants.There are many factors to increasing global COVID-19 vaccination coverage, including not only supply but health system capacity and community demand. UK and COVAX partners are working with countries to help health systems deliver vaccines. This includes engaging with communities and leaders to build trust, provide correct information, and encourage uptake.

Afghanistan: International Assistance

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 18 January 2022 to Question 103625, on Afghanistan: Humanitarian Aid, what her Department’s objectives will be at the upcoming UN pledging conference on Afghanistan; and if she will make a statement.

James Cleverly: The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan remains a priority for the UK Government. In January, the UN requested nearly $4.5 billion for 2022-the largest humanitarian appeal on record. The UN has announced that it will be holding an international pledging conference and the UK is supportive of that conference.The £286 million that we have promised will be spent by the end of this financial year. The UK Government has responded and shown leadership across the world in our support to Afghanistan. It is vital that all countries come together through the UN to step up to the mark.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Chief Scientific Advisers

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many meetings she had with her Department's Chief Scientific Adviser from (a) 1 March to 31 May 2021, (b) 1 June to 31 August 2021 and (c) 1 September to 30 November 2021.

Amanda Milling: Since her appointment as Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the Right Honourable Elizabeth Truss MP has met with her Chief Scientific Adviser three times during the period 1 September 2021 to 30 November 2021.The meetings included virtual meetings, in-person briefings and group meetings.The Chief Scientific Adviser provides all Ministers with regular written submissions and briefings on science and research activities.

Tigray: Armed Conflict

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of tabling a resolution at the UN Security Council to set up a tribunal to investigate sexual violence in the conflict in Tigray, Ethiopia.

Vicky Ford: The Foreign Secretary has made sexual violence in conflict one of her top priorities. We are working to promote justice for survivors of sexual violence, to provide support to survivors and children born of conflict related sexual violence and to prevent sexual violence from occurring. We deployed one of the UK's Team of Experts to Ethiopia to investigate how to improve health and social services for survivors, identify how access to justice can be strengthened, and scale up the UK's response to conflict-related sexual violence. We are now implementing the expert's recommendations with partners in Ethiopia.We have supported the Joint Investigation into human rights abuses and violations during the conflict, conducted by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and we welcome the Ethiopian Government's creation of an Inter-Ministerial Taskforce to take forward recommendations of Joint Investigation report. At a special session of the Human Rights Council on 17 December 2021, we backed a resolution that created an International Commission of Experts to investigate allegations of violations in Ethiopia, including those of sexual violence. We urge all parties to engage with this Commission.We call on all parties to the conflict to act decisively to cease all human rights violations, including the perpetration of conflict-related sexual violence.

Ministry of Defence

Defence: Finance

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing military expenditure following recent aggression from Russia and China.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ukraine: Military Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding Operation Orbital in the context of recent aggression from Russia.

James Heappey: Defence has a longstanding relationship with our Ukrainian counterparts, providing support in many areas including security assistance, equipment packages and defence reform. We maintain the right to deliver bilateral support to a sovereign nation when requested, in areas that will better help them defend themselves. Since 2015, the UK has helped build the resilience and capacity of Ukraine’s defence through Operation ORBITAL. For the moment the operation has fulfilled its current training obligations. The current situation on the borders of Ukraine have made retaining a UK training mission in Ukraine untenable, but the UK remains steadfast in its support to Ukraine.

Veterans: Unemployment

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support the Government is providing to unemployed veterans in Newport West constituency.

Leo Docherty: The Department for Work and Pensions has 50 Armed Forces Champions, with at least one in each of our 37 Jobcentre Plus districts. Unemployed veterans will have access to a range of support from their Jobcentre Plus, including where necessary through DWP’s Armed Forces Champions. Further to this the Government is determined to provide veterans and other members of the armed forces community with the help and support they need and deserve. The Career Transition Partnership (CTP) offers our Service Leavers employment support up to two years before and two years after discharge with 83% gaining employment within six months of discharge.

Dassault: Military Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether components of the two Dassault Falcon 900LX that his Department plans to purchase were manufactured in the UK.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which engine will power the two Dassault Falcon 900LX to be purchased by his Department.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where the two Dassault Falcon 900LX will be manufactured.

Jeremy Quin: The Dassault Falcon 900LX aircraft to be provided under the Command Support Air Transport contract with Centreline Aviation are manufactured in France (including components from Germany, Greece and Italy), with completion activities, such as paint and cabin fit, undertaken in the USA. Each aircraft is powered by three Honeywell TFE731-60 engines manufactured in the USA.  Business aircraft of the required size and capability are only available from a limited number of manufacturers none of which manufacture in the UK.

Military Aircraft: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many companies competed to replace the RAF's BAE 146 fleet.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department's decision to purchase two Dassault Falcon 900LX fulfils social value criteria.

Jeremy Quin: The Dassault Falcon 900LX aircraft will be provided under a contract with Centreline Aviation. Four bids were received from companies to act as the broker for the acquisition and support of aircraft to replace the Royal Air Force's BAe 146 fleet. Tenderers were incentivised to provide the best solution (both aircraft acquisition and support solution) to meet the Authority’s key specifications including meeting the essential Social Value criteria, specifically in relation to climate change and providing equal employment opportunities.

Department for Work and Pensions

Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2022 to Question 113193 on Disability, if she will publish further details of the agency appointed by the Disability Unit in Autumn 2021 to conduct research to identify and better understand unhelpful stereotypes and perceptions, and the behaviours found to be most harmful to disabled people.

Chloe Smith: Following a competitive procurement process, the Disability Unit appointed CM Monitor (Britain Thinks) Ltd, an independent research agency, to conduct research to identify and better understand unhelpful stereotypes and perceptions, and the behaviours found to be most harmful to disabled people.

Disability: Databases

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2022 to Question 113195 on Disability: Databases, if she will publish further details of the framework the Disability Unit has designed to guide her Department's disability data assessment and improvement activities.

Chloe Smith: The Disability Unit currently has no plans to publish the framework to improve the availability, quality, relevance, and comparability of government disability data as it is still being piloted. We expect it will cover an audit of disability data by relevant department and its arms length bodies; an assessment of the quality of existing disability related data; an assessment of the available analysis both internally and in publications; an assessment of the relevance of the existing data with regard to the lived experience of disabled people and; information with regard to data management.

Voluntary Work: Disability

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to (a) encourage disabled people to consider volunteering opportunities and (b) promote awareness of volunteering opportunities for people in receipt of social security payments.

Chloe Smith: DWP recognises the value of voluntary activity both in developing skills which can be transferred into the world of paid work and in terms of benefits for local communities and the wider society. Claimants may be encouraged to consider voluntary work opportunities if it would help them move closer to work. Claimants need to manage combining voluntary activity with other work-related activities. This will give them the best chance of moving into sustainable work more quickly. In addition, a range of tailored initiatives are supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to move into employment. These include the Work and Health Programme, Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, and support in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advisers in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services. In Jobcentre Plus, both Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers can discuss volunteering opportunities based on the needs of the individual and drawing on local knowledge.

Pension Credit

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has spent on promoting pension credit uptake in each of the last three years.

Guy Opperman: It is not feasible to undertake such an assessment. The Department has undertaken a range of actions to raise awareness of Pension Credit, including using proactive press activity and social media posts, the annual uprating mailing to over 11 million pensioners in Great Britain and our work with stakeholders.

Social Security Benefits: Children

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Concluding Observations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2016, whether her Department has undertaken the comprehensive assessment of the cumulative impact of the full range of social security and tax credit reforms introduced between 2010 and 2016 on children, including children with disabilities and children belonging to ethnic minority groups.

David Rutley: Since 2010 the Government has regularly published cumulative analysis of the impacts of its tax, welfare and public spending policies on households. The most recent assessment was published at Budget 2021. It showed that, in 2021/22, the poorest 60% of households will receive more in public spending than they contribute in tax. And households in the lowest income decile will receive more than £4 in public spending for every £1 they pay in tax on average. This cumulative distributional analysis (by HM Treasury) is the most comprehensive available, covering not only the effects of direct cash transfers between households and government, but also the effects of frontline public service provision. Welfare spending is not the only way to help families with children; further support, including health spending, employment support, and investment in infrastructure are important enablers to the removal of barriers to participation. It would be very challenging to produce analysis, of the same high quality, across other characteristics such as disability and ethnicity. Many benefits and services are paid or provided to households rather than individuals. Modelling would have to make strong assumptions about how income (and the benefits of wider service provision) is shared within households and the analysis results would be heavily dependent on these specific assumptions. Nonetheless, the Treasury, along with other relevant departments, carefully considers the impact of its decisions on those sharing protected characteristics, such as disability and ethnicity, including at Budgets and other fiscal events, in line with both its legal obligations and with its strong commitment to promoting fairness.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Carbon Emissions: Agriculture and Land Use

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of developing a nature-positive and net-zero aligned decarbonisation strategy for agriculture and land use as recommended by WWF and the Climate Change Committee.

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on developing (a) a target and (b) a strategy for decarbonising agriculture and land use in the UK.

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of developing a nature-positive and net-zero aligned decarbonisation strategy for agriculture and land use as recommended by WWF and the Climate Change Committee.

Victoria Prentis: Defra is fully committed to supporting the cross Government and cross societal work to reach net zero emissions by 2050. We set out our work in this area as part of the Government’s Net Zero Strategy, and have regular conversations with BEIS at all levels, including between Secretaries of State, on net zero. Our UK Food Security report also highlighted the importance of tackling climate change to support a resilient food supply and the future resilience of farming businesses. Our future farming environmental land management schemes will be crucial to delivering our goals to decarbonise agriculture and land use in England. In January the department published a target to decarbonise agricultural emissions by a total of up to 6 million tonnes CO2 equivalent per annum in Carbon Budget 6 (2033-37). We will pursue further opportunities to support farmers and land managers' contribution to delivering our Carbon Budgets, including through investment in innovation. The Environment Act introduced statutory Environmental Improvement Plans (EIP) and Local Nature Recovery Strategies with strong land use elements. Together with our planning system they will help to maximise the benefits of any land use change. As part of our next EIP, the review of the 25 Year Environment Plan due in 2023, we will be setting out our policy pathways to reach our legally binding targets under the Environment Act, including to halt the decline in nature by 2030.

Agriculture: Hedges and Ditches

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his comments at the speech to the Oxford farming Conference on 6 January 2022 that hedgerows are probably the single most important ecological building block in the farm landscape and that and how they are managed matters, how the new Local Nature Recovery scheme will be designed to support farmers to maintain and extend the network of hedgerows on their land.

Rebecca Pow: Following our exit from the European Union, the development of our new environmental land management schemes will continue to recognise the role and fund the management of hedgerows.Initially, the main offer for hedgerows will be the hedgerow standard, part of the new Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, which is still under development but will pay farmers to plant more hedgerows and manage them sustainably, such as by leaving them uncut or raising the cutting height. We will be publishing further details on our future standards, what they will pay for and how much the payments will be, in due course.Local Nature Recovery may offer some options which complement the Sustainable Farming Incentive hedgerow standard, for example, by managing habitat for targeted wildlife species on farms. We will publish more information on Local Nature Recovery later this year.

Hedges and Ditches: Conservation

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of Countryside Stewardship funding will be allocated towards planting new hedgerows; and what assessment he has made of the contribution that will make to increasing hedgerows to meet the Climate Change Committee’s target of 40 per cent increase in hedgerows by 2050, with an interim target of 20 per cent by 2035.

Rebecca Pow: The Countryside Stewardship (CS) scheme provides important funding for the planting and maintenance of hedgerows. In 2021, 3870 agreements included hedge-planting, creating over 2,700km of new hedgerows. In 2021, there were also over 9,000 CS agreements with the management of hedgerows option, covering over 46,000 km of hedgerows. The new round of CS opened for applications on 8 February.The rollout of standards in the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme (SFI), and other environmental land management schemes, will support the delivery of our environmental and climate goals, and the delivery of our 2030 species abundance target. The hedgerow standard, part of the new SFI scheme, will continue to recognise and fund the management of hedgerows. We will pay farmers to plant more hedgerows, leave them uncut or raise the cutting height.

Clean Air Zones: Greater Manchester

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure the effective rollout of the Manchester Clean Air Zone.

Jo Churchill: We have established an £880 million fund to support local authorities implementing measures to address nitrogen dioxide exceedances across England. We have provided a substantial £132 million from this Clean Air Fund to Greater Manchester authorities to help businesses and individuals upgrade to compliant vehicles. This is on top of providing £36 million to enable the implementation of the Clean Air Zone.Decisions around the introduction of Clean Air Zones are the responsibility of local authorities. The Government has agreed to allow a strict, time limited pause for Greater Manchester to review their CAZ plans in light of COVID-19 impacts. This is under the agreement that they will submit a revised plan to comply with legal air pollution limits in the shortest possible timeframe by July. We have also agreed to share relevant data and to work closely with Greater Manchester authorities during this review.

Ivory: Imports

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of ivory that has passed into or through UK borders in each of the last 5 years.

Rebecca Pow: Import and export permits for bringing ivory into and out of the UK are managed on behalf of Defra by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). Each permit is for one specific item.The number of permits used in the last five years is shown below: YearIvory imports to the UKIvory (RE) exports from the UK201734814142018694134020193291272202027463720212861048 Data for 2022 is not yet available

Hedges and Ditches

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what ecological assessment his Department has made of the impact of reduced hedgerow coverage in the UK.

Rebecca Pow: The Government does not have an up-to-date ecological assessment of the impact of reduced hedgerow coverage in the UK but is committed to protecting hedgerows. Hedgerows are important environmental and landscape features that provide essential habitats and food for wildlife, as well as providing carbon sequestration and other benefits.Hedgelink, a partnership supported by environmental, farming and heritage organisations, have estimated that between 1984 and 1990 the length of hedgerows in Great Britain declined by about 23%. The Countryside Survey 2000 indicated that by 1998 this decline in the length of hedgerows had been halted.The Countryside Stewardship (CS) scheme funds the planning and maintenance of hedgerows. In 2021, 3870 agreements included hedge-planting, creating over 2,700 km of new hedgerows. The new round of CS opened for applications on 8 February, and we would encourage farmers and land managers to apply to plant hedgerows or improve existing ones. In 2021, there were also over 9,000 CS agreements with the management of hedgerows option, covering over 46,000 km of hedgerows. Our new environmental land management schemes will also continue to fund the management of hedgerows, in recognition of their historical, cultural and environmental value to our countryside.

Water Companies: Environment Protection

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government's strategic priorities for Ofwat, 2 February 2022, what steps the regulator will need to take to ensure that water companies demonstrate they are improving environmental performance to meet the Environment Agency requirements in the Environmental Performance Assessment.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government's strategic priorities for Ofwat, 2 February 2022, what steps the regulator will need to take to ensure water companies demonstrate how they are working towards achieving zero serious pollution incidents by 2030.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government's strategic priorities for Ofwat, 2 February 2022, what steps the regulator will need to take to ensure water companies demonstrate how they will significantly reduce the frequency and volume of sewage discharges from storm overflows, so overflows operate infrequently, and only in cases of unusually heavy rainfall.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to ensure that Ofwat legally enforces the aims of the drainage and wastewater planning process, in the Framework for the production of Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans, including the Government and regulators’ joint guiding principles to water companies.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that OfWAT ensures water industry companies collaborate with relevant stakeholders in the implementation and future development of Drainage and Wastewater Management plans to encourage the increased use of catchment-wide, nature-based solutions and sustainable drainage schemes.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps Ofwat will take to incentivise water companies to meet the aims of strategic drainage and wastewater management planning in a way that represents best value for money over the long-term for customers, the environment and wider society.

Rebecca Pow: Ofwat, the independent economic regulator, is legally required to act in accordance with the strategic policy statement (SPS). A draft SPS was laid in parliament 2nd February and is due to come into force following a period of 40 sitting days.Government expects Ofwat to explain how it intends to achieve against the priorities set out in the SPS when making key decisions. For example, in its forthcoming price control review methodology.Protecting and enhancing our nation's water environment is a priority for this government. It is government's expectation that Ofwat and the water industry will prioritise appropriate action to enhance water quality and deliver a resilient and sustainable water supply. In particular, the Government wants to see water and sewerage companies making progressive reductions in the adverse impacts of discharges from storm overflows.DWMPs will become statutory through the Environment Act 2021 when the first cycle ends and will help sewerage companies to fully assess wastewater network capacity and develop collaborative solutions.In delivering against the priorities set out in the Strategic Policy Statement, water companies should significantly increase their use of nature and catchment-based solutions. We expect companies and regulators to work towards delivering these solutions as a matter of preference.

Air Pollution: West Midlands

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the levels of toxic air in the West Midlands.

Jo Churchill: The UK Automatic Urban and Rural Network provides measurements of air pollutant concentrations throughout the UK for a range of pollutants. The network provides high resolution hourly information which is communicated rapidly to the public, using a wide range of electronic, media and web platforms. Data from sites across the West Midlands is uploaded automatically onto the UK Air Website, accessible through the following URL:https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/data/Defra's Pollution Climate Mapping model estimates background and roadside concentrations of air pollutants at 1km2 grid squares across the UK. An interactive map to display these concentrations can be found at the following URL:https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/data/gis-mapping/In September, Defra published the Air Pollution in the UK report, making information on the ambient air quality evidence base for the year publicly available. This includes an assessment of trends and spatial distribution, together with information on pollution events during the year, and is available through the following URL:https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/annualreport/air_pollution_uk_2020_issue_1.pdfLocal Authorities also carry out air quality monitoring as part of the Local Air Quality Management process and provide DEFRA with annual reports on the status of air quality within their Local Authority boundary. Summary statistics for all their Air Quality measurements can be found within their annual status report, publicly available on the website of the respective local authority.

Hedges and Ditches: Conservation

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a legally binding target which would match or exceed the Climate Change Committee’s recommendation to increase hedgerow coverage by 40 per cent by 2050, with interim targets of 20 per cent by 2035.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to introduce a national hedgerow planting target to restore the 50 per cent of hedgerow coverage lost since World War 2.

Rebecca Pow: Hedgerows are one of the most important ecological building blocks in our farmed landscape. They maintain the distinctive character of our countryside, providing crucial habitats and food for wildlife. Our future farming schemes will incentivise the planting and sustainable management of hedgerows across England. We are required by the Environment Act 2021 to set at least one long term biodiversity target, in addition to our target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030. This target, and others set under the Act, will help target the causes of decline and drive actions to deliver nature recovery. We will shortly be carrying out a public consultation on proposed targets, including for biodiversity. We will also be setting out our pathways to meet these targets in the Environmental Improvement Plan due in 2023. In order to meet our species abundance target we will need to create more, better joined up habitats, which will include hedgerows.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Chief Scientific Advisers

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many meetings he had with his Department's Chief Scientific Adviser from (a) 1 March to 31 May 2021, (b) 1 June to 31 August 2021 and (c) 1 September to 30 November 2021.

Victoria Prentis: The Secretary of State attended 13 meetings with his Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) between 1 March 2021 and 31 May 2021; 11 meetings between 1 June 2021 and 31 August 2021; and 16 meetings between 1 September 2021 and 30 November 2021. The Department’s junior Ministers also attend meetings with their CSA.

Neonicotinoids: EU Countries

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many EU countries have been granted derogations for the use of thiamethoxam since its ban in 2018.

Victoria Prentis: EU legislation allows Member States to grant emergency authorisation for the use of a pesticide in special circumstances.  Since the EU prohibited the outdoor use of thiamethoxam in December 2018, 15 EU countries have granted emergency authorisations for products containing thiamethoxam.

Horticulture: Regional Planning and Development

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the contribution that horticulture can make in helping to deliver the levelling up agenda across the UK.

Victoria Prentis: Farming and food production are at the heart of the Government’s levelling up agenda. We must continue to support a vibrant and profitable food and farming industry, including horticulture, which supports the Government’s levelling up agenda and helps safeguard our food security. We are working closely with the horticulture sector to explore opportunities for economic growth and creating jobs across the country.

Home Office

Refugees: Afghanistan

Dehenna Davison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will take steps to ensure that Afghans brought to the UK through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy are found permanent accommodation as soon as possible.

Damian Hinds: We currently have over 12,000 people in bridging hotel accommodation.We do not want to keep people in temporary accommodation any longer than they need to be, we are eager for them to be moved into more permanent settled accommodation so that they can begin to rebuild their lives here in the UK.Due to an unprecedented cross-government effort, and in partnership with local authorities and the private rented sector, we have already matched or are matching approximately 4,000 evacuees to homes.We strive to allocate the right families into the right accommodation to ensure that their integration into their new communities in the UK is as smooth as possible. We are exploring all options to ensure families who move out of bridging hotels into self-arranged accommodation receive the appropriate supportTo achieve this, we triage and prioritise families to ensure the settled accommodation provides the best possible match.We would like to encourage Local Authorities who have not yet pledged support to consider offering to do so. People are encouraged to submit housing offers via the DLUHC Housing portal where offers can be signposted to the appropriate LA to consider if they could support a family under the scheme using that property - https://gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-housing-portal-offers-of-support…In addition to the work we are doing with local authorities, the Government has extended the Community Sponsorship Scheme so that local community groups will be able to directly support an Afghan family resettled through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme which will commence soon.Afghans recognised as having a legal right to reside in the UK are immediately entitled to access essential services including education, NHS healthcare, employment opportunities and universal credit.

Emergency Services Network: Scotland

Andrew Bowie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether further resilience measures are planned for the Emergency Services Network following recent storms in the North East of Scotland.

Damian Hinds: The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) works closely with user organisations and EE to enhance levels of resilience across the ESN network. This includes enhancing power resilience across the ESN network by deploying standby alternative power solutions in the event of mains power being lost.

Emergency Services Network

Andrew Bowie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with representatives of EE on improving the resilience of the Emergency Services Network following Storms Arwen, Malik and Corrie.

Damian Hinds: Regular discussions are ongoing between the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESCMP) and EE to ensure the ESN network is resilient in the event of major disruption. The Programme is providing additional investment to enhance resilience of the ESN network in addition to what has already been provided by EE.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan nationals have been granted leave to remain in the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme to date.

Damian Hinds: As part of Operation Warm Welcome, Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) those in the UK are entitled to Indefinite Leave to Remain.The Home Office has now started the process to support them in applying for and being granted Indefinite Leave to Remain.The data on those who have been granted Indefinite Leave to Remain is not currently available but once published we will direct to the publication.

Landlords: Sexual Offences

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she is having with the police on (a) investigating and (b) prosecuting landlords that attempt to offer housing in exchange for sexual relations.

Rachel Maclean: he Government is clear that exploitation through ‘sex for rent’ has no place in our society. However, there are two existing offences in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which can, and have, been used to successfully prosecute this practice. The existing offences of causing or inciting prostitution for gain (section 52 of the 2003 Act) and controlling prostitution for gain (section 53 of the 2003 Act). These offences may capture instances of sex for rent, depending on the circumstances of the case.We recognise the need to stamp out this abhorrent practice and support those at risk of exploitation. We have already taken action around this:to ensure prosecutors are clear on the law, the CPS amended their guidance on ‘Prostitution and Exploitation of Prostitution’ to include specific reference to the potential availability of charges for offences under sections 52 and 53 for ‘sex for rent’ arrangements;to better protect tenants from rogue landlords who have been convicted of certain criminal offences, the Government introduced banning orders through the Housing and Planning Act 2016. A banning order prohibits named individuals from engaging in letting and property management work, and we have been clear that both housing associations and local authorities should use these orders if needed; andwe recognise the importance of ensuring we have the right legislation in place to tackle those seeking to exploit others through this practice, that is why in the VAWG Strategy we committed to working across Government and with partners to better understand the effectiveness of existing offences in tackling this issue and consider whether further reform is needed.The Online Safety Bill will include relevant offences relating to the incitement and control of prostitution for gain in the list of ‘priority offences’ which internet companies will need to take proactive steps to tackle. The Bill will capture user-to-user sites, where the majority of ‘sex for rent’ advertising takes place. Furthermore, the Bill places a duty on certain companies to take action in respect to ‘content that is harmful to adults’.In parallel, officials are working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing, for example, to ensure there is appropriate guidance for policing on the issue of sex-for-rent.

Crossbows

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has conducted a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the regulation of the sale and possession of crossbows.

Damian Hinds: Crossbows are subject to statutory controls in the Crossbows Act 1987. This Act makes it an offence to sell or hire a crossbow, with a draw weight of 1.4 kilograms or greater to anyone under the age of 18 and prohibits anyone aged under 18 from buying or hiring a crossbow. It is also an offence for anyone under the age of 18 to possess a crossbow which can discharge a missile or parts of a crossbow which together (and without any other parts) can be assembled to form a crossbow capable of discharging a missile, unless they are under the supervision of a person who is aged 21 or older.The Prevention of Crime Act 1953 prohibits the possession, in a public place, of any offensive weapon without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. Additionally, under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 it is also an offence to be in possession of crossbow bolts in a public place without good reason or lawful authority.All relevant laws are kept under review to maintain public safety. We are currently considering options to strengthen controls on crossbows and work on this is ongoing.

Asylum

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department collects on the protected characteristics of asylum seekers arriving in the UK.

Kevin Foster: When an asylum seeker registers their asylum claim they will undergo an asylum screening interview. This interview includes questions about their personal details and their health and wellbeing. These include questions that relate to their age, their gender (sex), whether they are pregnant, if they have any disabilities, their race/ethnicity, their religion and if they have a partner.

Visas

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department uses to define complex applications for visa renewals.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the number of visa applications classified as complex over the last five years.

Kevin Foster: The complexity of an application can vary from case to case due to a range of factors which may include the various checks which must be carried out in the course of assessment.The Home Office routinely conducts checks with other government departments and external agencies. This may mean we hold an application for longer than normal, but in some cases it is essential we do so.If an application is deemed complex and expected to take longer than the standard processing timescale, UKVI will write to the customer within the standard processing time and explain what will happen next.Data on our performance against published Service Level Agreement (SLA), which also includes visa renewals, can be found within our transparency data: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Asylum: Applications

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officials were responsible for examining and making decisions on asylum applications at the end of 2021.

Kevin Foster: The number of officials who were responsible for examining and making decisions on asylum applications at the end of 2021 is not held in a reportable format as resources cross a number of different departments. Therefore, to obtain this information could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.However, the Home Office can provide the number of asylum decision makers from up to year ending 2021. This data can be found in ASY_04 of the published Transparency data:Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Visas: Commonwealth

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of lowering the financial threshold for Tier 1 Investment Visas from applicants from the Commonwealth.

Kevin Foster: While we keep the effective operation of the Tier 1 (investor) immigration route under review, we have no plans to vary the required investment thresholds according to nationality.

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements: India

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to incorporate objectives set out in the Green Grids initiative into the Government's negotiations on the UK-India free trade agreement.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: Britain’s free trade agreements protect her sovereign right to regulate for environment, uphold high environmental standards, and encourage environmental cooperation. This includes clean energy and enabling infrastructure technologies, which align with the objectives of the COP26 ‘Green Grids’ initiative, and we will continue to champion global action on climate change.

Trade Agreements: India

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to ensure that provisions relating to government procurement in the UK-India free trade agreement negotiations support the (a) Green Grids initiative and (b) roll out of (i) super-grids and (ii) mini-grids.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: Procurement provisions in free trade agreements promote transparency, non-discrimination and competition. In our negotiations with India, we will seek procurement provisions to improve choice and competition in both markets, including in goods and services, which will support the development and deployment of clean technologies.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Charities: Marketing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of restrictions on charities' marketing spend on the income of charities throughout the country.

Nigel Huddleston: Decisions on fundraising and marketing are the responsibility of a charity's trustees - in particular to ensure decisions reflect the charity's purpose, and deliver on their objectives.Charities must also ensure they meet the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct and Promotional Marketing (CAP Code) and the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code) and make sure all advertisements are legal, decent, honest and truthful.Where the government has provided funding to support the services that charities deliver, there may be restrictions on what this funding can be used for, to ensure public money is only used for activities intended by the grant programme, for example, direct delivery of services to those the charity works with.

Youth Services: Kirklees

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the impact of the reduction in youth service funding in Kirklees on youth crime and anti-social behaviour in that area.

Nigel Huddleston: Local Authorities have a statutory duty to allocate funding to youth services in line with local need. This is funded from the Local Government settlement, which was over £12 billion this year. Police recorded incidents show a fall in Antisocial Behaviour since 2013/2014 from around 2.1 million to 1.7 million incidents in September 2021.The Government recognises the vital role that accessible youth services and activities play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people. The Government is investing £560 million over the next 3 years in a new National Youth Guarantee, so that by 2025 every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer.

Tourism

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to promote English Tourism Week from 18 to 27 March 2022.

Nigel Huddleston: English Tourism Week will be an excellent opportunity to showcase some of the best tourist attractions and destinations around the country. The ‘Be Our Guest’ campaign will highlight the opportunities of domestic tourism for inbound visitors as well as our domestic population.Our arms-length body, VisitEngland, has launched the next phase of its domestic marketing campaign, Escape the Everyday. The campaign will focus on cities as they are impacted by lower numbers of international visitors and it will target a ‘pre-nester’ audience (18-34 year olds), encouraging them to book a short city-break.The National Lottery Days Out Scheme will still be running during English Tourism week, therefore there will be opportunities for National Lottery Players to visit attractions by claiming a £25 voucher.I also plan to visit some of England’s fantastic tourist destinations and attractions during the week. The Government is committed to the sector’s recovery post-pandemic and English Tourism Week will be an opportunity to celebrate the resilience of the sector and demonstrate our world-class offer.

Platinum Jubilee 2022: Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to encourage private companies to fly the British flag for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Chris Philp: There is no law, only protocol, for the flying of flags. Individuals, local authorities and other organisations including private companies may fly the Union Flag whenever they wish.I am delighted to support the flying of the Union Flag. Last year my department published guidance encouraging all UK Government buildings to fly the Union Flag every day, where their buildings have a working flagpole; and I am delighted to encourage, but cannot mandate, private companies to do the same.

Platinum Jubilee 2022: Medals

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether individuals volunteering as part of the UK vaccination effort will be eligible for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal.

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether volunteers in the Samaritans will be eligible for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal.

Chris Philp: To qualify for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal recipients must be in an eligible public sector role in a frontline emergency service. This does not include volunteers in the Samaritans. Equally, volunteers in the UK vaccination effort are not eligible for the Medal.The Government does however recognise the extraordinary contributions made by people across communities in response to the pandemic, and notes the outstanding work of Samaritans’ volunteers.The Prime Minister has announced that the government will establish a UK Commission on COVID Commemoration to consider the appropriate way to remember those who have lost their lives and to recognise those involved in the unprecedented response across all critical sectors. The Government will set out the Commission membership and terms of reference in due course.

Ministry of Justice

Knives: Crime

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what specific mental health services are offered to young people and children who have witnessed knife crime or who have friends who have died.

Tom Pursglove: The Government is committed to ensuring victims of serious crime receive the support they need to cope and recover in the aftermath of traumatic events. In 2021/22, the MoJ is providing £150.5 million for victim and witness support services, of which £115 million is being distributed via Police and Crime Commissioners who commission local, practical and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types, including serious violence. The MoJ provides up to £4.6 million per annum to Victim Support to deliver the Homicide Service which supports immediate family members residing in England and Wales, who are bereaved through homicide both at home and abroad. The service provides a dedicated caseworker and emotional, practical, advocacy and peer support, as well as onward referrals to therapy and counselling. We know that witnessing a murder or manslaughter can have a devastating impact on people’s lives which is why we are funding a pilot ‘Witness to Homicide Service’ in London. This service has been receiving referrals since September 2019 and provides witnesses with emotional support, practical support through the criminal justice process and referrals to specialist therapy for trauma.

Ministry of Justice: Chief Scientific Adviser

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings he had with his Department's Chief Scientific Adviser from (a) 1 March to 31 May 2021, (b) 1 June to 31 August 2021 and (c) 1 September to 30 November 2021.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Justice draws from a range of scientific advice and expertise. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.